Desperate Moves
by Ranna's Heart
Summary: TLC#4- Nick decides that Sam, Lirael and himself should go and visit Clayr's Glacier.
1. Research and Decisions

Sorry that everyone has had to wait so long for another story.

Just so that everyone knows, unlike the other stories in the TLC series, this one is planned to be a multi-chapter fic.

I would suggest you read TLC #3 before reading this one but it's not like you'll be lost if you don't.

Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: All characters are property of Garth Nix. I'm just borrowing them for a bit.

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><p>I wonder if there is a scientific explanation of why time flies when you're enjoying yourself but drags on when you're not. If there isn't then there should be.<p>

_"I still need to go back Nick, but…" Lirael trailed off._

_"But what?"_

_"Would you like to come back with me?"_

_Nick froze and stared at her once again._

_"I would love too."_

Ever since that fateful day six months ago when I met Lirael at the Wall and she once again saved my life, time seems to have raced by quicker than one of my uncles automobiles. The initial worry about being accepted into the Old Kingdom by Sam and his family had proved to be wasteful.

We had swiftly arrived at the Royal Palace in the wonderful paper contraption of Lirael's- a Paperwing I was later told it was called- and was greeted by Sam himself who was waiting to check out how Liraels new hand had held up on the other side of the Wall.

A quick explanation of my appearance to Sam while en-route to the infirmary concluded with the arrival of all the documentation I would need in order to become a full citizen of the Old Kingdom. I was even granted an allowance for my "services to the crown" from when I had tried to stop the joining of Orannis by shutting down the lightning rods.

Apparently the fact that I was the person who had released and transported him to Ancelstierre had been gratefully over looked.

Yet, despite the fact that it felt as if all the different parts of my life were finally falling into place, one thing was still missing.

Lirael.

You would think the fact that we were now on the same side of the wall and often living in the same building would help two people get closer but if anything it seemed to tear us apart.

Not that we were that close to begin with of course.

I would prefer to think that she was trying to avoid me rather than just not thinking about me at all but it seemed as if the second explanation was the most likely.

She means so much to me but I mean so little to her. Not even a bond of friendship has emerged from this infrequent relationship. That is, if a relationship can be defined as one person repeatedly saving the others life and then disappearing without a trace.

Luckily, the fact that I was now receiving an allowance and had nothing expected of me other than to behave myself left me with ample time to prepare a plan to win the lovely Lirael.

Just six weeks after I arrived, my research began despite the fact that sources were scarce. Most of the information gathered was nothing but speculation and rumors.

Known fact number one:

Lirael is Sabriel's sister who was only recently discovered and as such the new Abhorsen-in-Waiting. Also, the relationship to Sabriel also made her the sister-in-law to the King which most likely earns Lirael some sort of noble right that no one seems to know anything about, if it has even been discussed.

Fact number two:

Lirael was born and raised in with the Clayr since she herself is half Clayr. Information on them is scarce. All I have been able to find out from the Palace Library is that almost all Clayr are born as tall, blonde women who have the sight. What confounds me is that since there are almost no men that are born to the Clayr, all of the Clayr are technically half-blood since the fathers are not of the Clayr. Yet, only Lirael is considered to be a half-blood.

Fact number three:

Lirael does not talk to anyone other than Sam. Period. As a matter of fact, I have learned that after Sam I am the only person who has held a conversation with her for any period of time despite the fact that I have only meet her three times.

The strange Dog doesn't count, she isn't a person.

Fact number four:

Lirael does not show a preference for any of the men who have decided to court her. She doesn't even seem to notice that there are men courting her at all which would be rather amusing to me if I wasn't one of those men.

Facts that are of no help to me at all. No one seems to know what she prefers to eat, her favorite color, the type of music she enjoys, or even what sort of clothing she prefers since she now only wears the uniform tunic of the Abhorsen-in-Waiting while around people.

I had once tried to get Lirael to open up to me on one of the rare occasions I managed to corner her- and I mean I literally trapped her in a corner of the library- I was unable to get any answers out of her.

Before any question could leave my mouth, she for some reason had started spouting out some nonsense about the weather from behind her curtain of dark, silky hair.

I guess my request to have her look me in the eyes had been denied.

Despite all of the dead ends there was still one source I had yet to turn to.

Good old Sam.

He had to know _something_ about his Aunt. After all he had traveled alone with her practically from one side of the kingdom to the other and even if she had never answered any of his questions, which is most likely, he would have had to have noticed some things about her that would be helpful to me.

Yet, despite that fact that Sam is one of my oldest and closest friends, there had been something holding me back from asking him.

I'm not sure if it was because it was almost awkward to go ask a friend for advice on how to court his aunt or if it was because some part of me was almost jealous of the friendship Sam and Lirael appeared to share.

They'd had the rare opportunity to bond over their shared experiences of saving the Old Kingdom. Well, that and saving silly Nick as well, since that had been Sam's primary objective for most of their trip I have been told.

However, it had now been over half of year of failure after failure of trying to catch her attention and I was starting to becoming a desperate man. Every day that I turned away from the door to Sam's tower was a day I was losing with Lirael. That is why one day I finally put steel in my spine and knocked on his door.

Surprisingly, there was no answer. I knew that Sam was in there. He'd been cooped up in there for the past week working on some new project or other for Lirael, only emerging when he realized he did need to eat and get some sleep.

For such a smart fellow you'd think that he wouldn't need to be reminded of that so often.

I worked up the courage to knock a second time to once again receive no answer from inside. The third knock was greeted with an "I'm busy!" and the fourth with a "go away."

Persistence did win out in the end. The fifth knock was answered with the door swinging open in anger until Sam finally saw who was on the other side.

Before he could try to convince me to leave I pushed my way past him and into the cluttered room beyond.

Bookshelves lined the walls filled not only with an assortment of books with colorful spines leaning at odd angles, but also with old scrolls and other nick-knacks such as a collection of what appeared to be little jeweled frogs and one possible toad all staring at what appeared to be a jar filled with prisoner mosquitos.

If I didn't know better, I would have sworn one of the frogs was inching closer to the jar.

There were also four large wooden tables in the room, three of them filled with plethora tools that I couldn't name, wires composed of what looked to be different metals in varying thickness, scattered papers heaped in disorganized piles, and a variety of other strange materials held in different shaped jars.

It was the fourth table that held my attention.

In the center of the table surrounded by strange marks, oils, and four cylindrical metal tubes, all of different sizes, was something that I hadn't thought I would see again.

Liraels sword much changed from the one time I had clearly seen it in the boat of reeds on the Red Lake but instantly recognizable because it had been the first real sword I had ever seen up close in my life.

Well, that and the fact that I seem to have an unparalleled ability to remember all of the little things about Lirael even if only seen once when I was delirious.

Before I could begin to question Sam as to what he was doing to Liraels sword (it looked like ruining it to me), Sam himself began to speak in a voice that clearly displayed his irritation.

"What are you doing here? Can't whatever it is wait Nick? I'm in the middle of something" he stated when turning around back to the table with the sword.

"As a matter of fact it can wait but I don't want it to." I attempted to say in what I felt to be an irritatingly cheerful manner.

I once again found myself not receiving a response from one of my oldest and closest friends.

"Come on Sameth old-boy! Spare just a moment for a needy chap!" I implored.

Sam responded with and aggravated sigh.

"I'm at a critical point right now Nick. Come back to me in a couple of hours and—"

"Does this project keep your ears from working? Just listen and when you're done you can answer me." I quickly interjected.

"Fine, fine. Just try to make it quick." Sam stated as he turned back around to the sword.

"It's just a problem I'm having with a lady right now Sam. I was hoping you'd have some sort of insight into her is all.

I really like her Sam but I'm not so sure she feels the same way. I've been trying to talk to her but it's almost as if she's avoiding me so I've had to resort to finding out more about her from other people.

The problem is that no one seems to know her and the number one response that I receive is to go talk to Sam.

I truly didn't want to bother you with this so I chose a different route to take all together and went to the library to research the people she was raised with but other than a physical description there was very little information.

Actually, I was left with more questions than answers."

During my long speech Sam had managed to make a seventh pipe out of the sword that was much smaller than the other six.

"I'm not sure how much help I can be Nick." Sam responded as he began to re-sharpen the edges of the sword.

"Especially if you don't tell me who she is. To be perfectly honest it might be better to go visit Ellimere—"

"Ellimere doesn't know her. Only you have spent any time with her."

"Who is she Nick?" Sam once again asked as he continued to sharpen the sword.

"Well, I don't want this to be awkward-"

"Who is she Nick?"

It was now my turn to sigh. "Lirael."

Sam paused his well-practiced motions and after a brief minute cracked up laughing.

A little insulted, I immediately prepared to launch a verbal defense of my chosen lady when Sam began to hiccup.

"I'm sorry Nick but I couldn't help it. It's just that I'm not sure how much help I can be. You must realize that you picked one of the most private and insecure people in the world to chase after.

To be perfectly honest I don't know much about her. For most of our adventure I didn't even know that she was my aunt. Of course, she didn't know it either but still."

"So there isn't anything you can tell me about her?"

"Well, when we were still sailing I had tried to flirt with her but she had lied and told me that she was much older than she looked in order to get me to stop.

Honestly, I don't know as much about her as I should. She loves old books and is an excellent charter mage who is mostly self-taught. She knows dozens of old spells and odd marks that have been long forgotten."

At this point Sam had moved onto polishing the sword.

"What about the Clayr? I wasn't able to find out much about them either."

Sam furrowed his brow.

"I've never had much contact with the Clayr. They are one of the original and most pure bloodlines we have. They do a lot of trading and are all women as far as I know."

"Yes, yes. I was able to find that out in the Library but it's not of much use for me."

"I'm not sure how to help you then Nick." Sam replied as he sheathed the finished sword.

"Then that's it. There is only one option left." I finally stated. "We will go to visit Clayr's glacier and take Lirael with us."

"You don't just go visit the glacier Nick. You need a reason."

"We do have a reason Sam. You mentioned the other day you were lost about some reference to a spell that you wanted to look up and what better place to find it than in a giant library? And being in such a big library it would of course be a good idea to bring someone along who knows how to navigate it as well as knows most of the people who work there."

Sam pondered the idea for a moment before finally replying with a reluctant "alright."

With Sam in agreement all that was left was to inform Sam's parents of where we were going and to alert Lirael that she was going along with us.

Lirael was of course most surprised but agreed as Sam handed her back her sword and began to make the arrangements to once again to return to her home.

TBC.

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><p>Please leave a review and thank you for reading!<p>

-Ranna


	2. The Voyage

It's only been two months since the first chapter was posted. A record for me!

Please enjoy. Future chapters will hopefully come sooner because I have them all planned out and organized.

Disclaimer: All characters are property of Garth Nix. I'm just borrowing them for a bit.

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><p>What could only be described as an awkward silence ran rampant as our small party finally set sail from Belisaere to the far North West reaches of the Old Kingdom.<p>

Clayr's Glacier and their extremely large library to be more specific.

I do have to say that my initial estimate of the travel time need to complete our expedition of sorts was speedily proven to be outrageously wrong.

Based originally on the few accurate- albeit- hand drawn maps I had found smashed on a corner shelf in Sam's study under a tangle of multicolored twine, I had thought we could reach the Glacier in approximately a day by Paperwing. Sure, three people would be a tight fit and it would be a long flight without any breaks but it was most definitely possible.

Except that the two accompanying guards couldn't possibly fit inside with us, the luggage, and Sam and Liraels swords, bows and assorted armor.

Not exactly what I usually brought on vacation.

That left us only two possible options. We could either spend a couple of weeks traveling on horseback (something I've been told Lirael has yet grown accustomed to) or we could spend less than a week traveling by boat north on the Ratterlin.

Despite all of my quietly voiced yet persistent protests to Sam, travel by boat was ultimately chosen.

Now, my raging sea sickness aside, it really was a pleasant experience as far as the amount of work required of the people on board was concerned. Unlike back home, the boats in the Old Kingdom are excellent at steering themselves and adjusting their own sails leaving the passengers with unlimited free time to laze about on neatly polished deck and chat with one another.

Or in the case of our small party, silently sit by ourselves on opposite sides of the ship.

In the beginning there were a couple of endeavors made by Sam to start up a conversations with Lirael since I myself was indisposed by the railing with only a tin bucket as my companion, but it very quickly became evident that all efforts were to be made in vain.

Lirael appeared to prefer sitting at the tiller with her dog statue in her lap leaving Sam with only myself to chat at.

I was quickly reminded of a fact that I had learned about Sam during the time that we had both attended Somersby College: when Sam is not preoccupied by some project or other he just begins to ramble on and on about whatever pops into his head.

This was most likely _not_ one of the best habits for a Royal Prince.

Some of the stories were rather amusing. Hearing about how when Sam and Lirael first met, Sam was floating around in a rapidly sinking bath tub and how Lirael was pointing her bow at him from safely on board her ship was definitely one I'd never heard before and wouldn't mind hearing again if I was ever in need of a laugh.

However, the story about how Sam had tried to flirt with Lirael until he had asked her about her age was one that I could have lived without.

So the first three days of the voyage continued on in almost complete silence other than basic questions and their responding answers. Due to this, I took the few precious moments I had looking up from my trusty tin bucket to examine our ship.

Crafted of some lightly colored wood I couldn't name, it was a beautiful vessel complete with the figure head of a man with closely shaved hair. It was a bit strange at first, considering the fact that all of the figure heads that I'd been unfortunate enough to have seen in the past were modeled after voluptuous women.

The ship was clearly more than just a vessel for transporting people on water. It was a work of art. Close inspection of the railing I was leaning up against revealed delicate carvings of different runes that I had learned to associate with the Charter. There were also no obvious screws or nails anywhere aboard the ship, each having been covered with a square ebony plug.

Even the mast of the ship featured different carvings. It was only later I learned they helped protect the ships of maladies such as rot and splintering.

The fourth day of the journey finally saw a change for the better.

At this point in the voyage, there were almost no villages to be seen on either of the banks and the forests were growing thicker with heavily scented evergreen trees. There was also a significant drop in the air temperature for further proof that we were now farther north than I had ever been.

The only bad part about this day was that Lirael had retrieved a white scarf from out of her travel pack and wrapped all of her lovely black hair up into it. Perhaps in what was an effort to ward off the chill.

My attempt to show her how to wrap it around her hair _and_ neck was met with blushing on both of our parts and Lirael re-arranging all of my hard work afterward. Sam just looked on and shook his head.

None of that was what made it better however. The emergence of the white scarf appeared to trigger some memory of Sam's of something called Charter Skins and some obscure text concerning them which had been left behind in the Library by Lirael. From there on an enthusiastic conversation began, finally breaking the pressing silence, about how they were made and what were some alternate uses that they could be put to use for.

Mostly nonsense to me but the theory was incredible.

Unfortunately, an ill-timed question from me inquiring as to what Lirael had used the Charter Skins for was met with stuttering pleas for us to not bring up the topic while at the Glacier. Luckily, quick thinking from Sam extracted a promise for an explanation after our visit ended as long and we never brought up the subject while at the Glacier.

After dinner, our small party began to notice mountains emerging in the distance and by the time we had set anchor in the middle of the dark river for the night, Lirael was able to point out the Starmount and Sunfall mountains between which Clayr's Glacier was located although we were at the wrong angle to see the actual glacier.

On this night Lirael, Sam and I slept below decks in an effort to keep warm. I felt sorry for the guards who had to remain above even though they never complained.

Actually, they were probably happy to get a reprieve from hearing Sam snore like a fog horn the entire night. There was no way such a sound could ever come from Lirael.

We rose early the next morning in order to reach the Clayr's Glacier by midday. Lirael took the time to explain to me about all of the different wards we were going to have to pass through to reach the actual Glacier.

I tried not to voice my worry about not being allowed through since I'd been told there was still some Free Magic flowing through me.

However, I found that all of my worrying had been for naught. We reached the subterranean docks of the Clayr and were met by the only Clayr I had ever seen before, Sanar and Ryelle, as well four other women that looked to be some sort of elders. All dressed in the white robes and moonstone circlets. One of the elders was also holding a wand made of what looked like frosted glass.

Once the formalities were seen to, our group was informed by the elder holding the delicate wand that Sam and I would be given a tour of the Glacier while Lirael would have the chance to settle in and catch up with some of her friends and family.

Much to my confusion, a quick glance at Lirael showed her staring at the ground with a blank look on her face and a hint of sadness in her eyes.

We split up and did not see each other until dinner the following night.

Tbc.

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><p>The next Chapter is all about Lirael!<p>

Please leave a review.

-Ranna


	3. Lirael- Part I

Disclaimer: All characters are property of Garth Nix. I'm just borrowing them for a bit.

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><p>Liraels pov.<p>

As it always is with the Clayr, introductions were brief and then Sam and Nick were quickly swept away down the heated hallway in a swirl of white robes to do whatever it is the Clayr had seen them doing already and the guards went in search of their lodging in the Lower Refectory.

The prince was in no danger from the Clayr and wards as old as the Charter itself keep out any trouble.

No one seemed to notice but me that the wards briefly lit up over the doorway when Nick stepped over the threshold. A threat contained at the moment. Although the attention Mogget has been paying him for the past couple of weeks has me worried.

I had recognized a couple of the elders who led them away from when I was younger and still attending the awakening ceremonies but their names meant nothing to me. They had filled my head with empty promises while never actually noticing I was there. Never Seen.

I had gone from being an outsider among cousins to an outsider among what I've been told should be my friends. However, it is obvious to me it isn't any easier being an Abhorsen-in-Waiting among those with no great destiny than it is to be a pale skinned, dark haired Clayr.

A sly voice from my pack shocked me from my reminiscing.

"Are you going to stand here all day or are you going to go through that door?"

Immediately following that question I was almost pulled over backwards as a pure white cat, no longer forced to wear its red leather collar and binding bell, used my pack to spring board to the ground and twine around my ankles.

I should have probably felt irritated at the site of my uninvited guest, but to be perfectly honest I was relieved. Ever since Sam had released him from his servitude to the Abhorsen, Mogget had taken to being my traveling companion and occasional teacher. Much like the Dog had been although to mention that would probably cost me a large amount of fish in order to gain forgiveness from the vain creature.

Mogget's presence also reminded me of the reason I had quickly agreed to this visit in the first place; despite that the fact that this visit to the place I had been born and raised had the potential to be both awkward and sad for me.

The first night after the binding of Orannis Mogget had let some information slip that I had never known before:

"_I suppose I should start from the beginning but I don't really want to. Half of the information that I would state as fact would be made up anyhow, my memory of the beginning is very selective at times. All you need to know is that Rembrancers are people who are both half Abhorsen and half Clayr. None of her children will have the ability as far as I know. Most likely the ability will die out for another thousand years before another one is born. I cannot even say for certain if there ever was one before her."_

And there were still questions that this raised that she needed to find the answers to.

_If there had never been a Rembrancer before her, then who had written the Book of Remembrance and Forgetting? Who had created and used the panpipes and how had the dark mirror come into existence or the creator had known that it had worked? Had the Clayr from the long distant past really just left everything to chance?_

How could the Clayr of the past have seen me when the Clayr of the present never had? To the point that they would spend over a hundred years to build Liraels Path whose entrance required the knowledge of a book kept in a forbidden room with a dangerous creature?

It was at this moment that Mogget once again choose to speak.

"So are we going to go visit your friends and family like you were told to do?"

With steel in my spine, I was able to resolutely shake my head no.

"Mogget, we are going to the Library."

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><p>Please R&amp;R<p>

Part two should be posted by Friday.

~Ranna


	4. Update

Hello everyone!

Look for new chapters starting around January. I am in my final semester of University with a full class load and just started a full time job. I'm sorry it's been so long but life happens and fanfiction hasn't been a priority.

Thank you too everyone who keeps encouraging me to continue.

See you soon,

Ranna


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